1. Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to connectors for coupling together one or more individual fibers to a like number of fibers to provide an extended signal transmission line.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Until recently, signals were transmitted through optical wave guides made up of a plurality of fibers in bundles, each fiber receiving the same signal and thus providing redundant paths so that the possibility of total signal loss was very low. This use of multiple fiber bundles minimized alignment problems and allowed for low accuracy connections without a loss of information transmitted. The bundle was, unfortunately, rather large and inflexible and most optical wave guides were necessarily relatively short and straight.
Recently, techniques have been developed whereby high strength, low loss glass and plastic fibers are now possible. Also, due to the great band width, which is possible, as many as 50,000 conversations can now be transmitted on a single fiber. The biggest remaining problem is a connector for coupling individual fibers of two cables with low loss characteristics. The cables can take the form of flat cables wherein layers of material are bonded over and around individual fibers, somewhat in the manner of forming conventional round conductor flat cable. Also, the cables can take circular configurations using a support core or support strands interleaved with optical fibers. The cable can carry as few as one fiber or as many as ten or more fibers. Other configurations of cables can be used in whatever form is desirable.
Some of the devices being used as connectors resemble those devices used to join metallic conductors and are crimped, compressed or clamped to the individual fibers. The brittleness and size of the glass fibers, particularly, make such techniques unsuitable to this new medium.